CDF members chide NWA

REPORTED DELAYS in Constituency Development Fund (CDF) projects implemented by the National Works Agency (NWA) have ignited a wave of complaints from members of parliament, who have called for the intervention of Transport and Works Minister Dr Omar Davies.

For weeks, MPs who sit on the CDF committee have been lambasting the NWA for its lethargic approach to implementing projects.

Yesterday, Moveta Monroe, director of the CDF Programme Management Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister, charged that the "methodology of dealing with the NWA is unacceptable and in need of review".

Monroe had asked the committee to summon NWA head E.G. Hunter to its next meeting to address the problems that have been causing delays in the start-up of CDF projects.

"There is some delay for us getting back documents from the NWA. I am issuing a word of caution that we could have extensive delays if we don't do something about it," Monroe added.

Not meeting with Hunter

However, the acting chairman of the CDF committee, Mikael Phillips, said the committee did not want to invite Hunter to return because the committee would not benefit from any new information.

The suggestion to invite Hunter to return also did not find favour with committee member Everald Warmington. "He keeps on talking to himself; that's all he does, and he talks all day without saying anything at all," Warmington charged.

"This could be a method of frustrating us," he continued, noting that from the outset, the NWA was reluctant to implement CDF projects.

Phillips instructed Monroe to write to Dr Davies asking him to convene a meeting between Hunter and the CDF staff to iron out the contentious issue.

When Hunter appeared before the committee on September 30, he told members that the NWA did not have a special mechanism to implement CDF projects as opposed to other projects.

Explaining the process, Hunter said after an estimate is prepared, it could be on someone's desk at the click of a mouse button. According to Hunter, in order to ensure that there is value for money, and that the good name of the NWA is preserved, the agency designates two persons in the enterprise who are authorised to sign and stamp documents before they become public documents.